


The Truth of the Matter

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Alternate Universe - Yakuza, Familiars, M/M, Magic, Pre-Relationship, Team as Family, Witches, Yakuza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 22:56:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15181169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: Kuroo takes over his family as the boss but there's one person from his past who is always on his mind.(A Coven/Witch-Yakuza AU)





	The Truth of the Matter

Tetsurou watched as Daichi pulled back.  Not physically, no Daichi was too well trained, had been in this world for too long to give any physical indication that he was uncomfortable or hurting.  But something shuttered over those dark as sin eyes, the warmth that usually radiated from him, the feeling that made people feel safe and welcome near him froze over.  Tetsurou had never seen Daichi react like that but then again, he had never been attacked like he was being at that moment.

 

“Is that how you all feel then?”  Daichi asked, those dark eyes assessing each person situated at the large table.  Tetsurou felt his pulse beating erratically though he made no outwardly sign of the inner turmoil he was suffering from.  Daichi’s eyes met his and Tetsurou felt Ayeka place her head on Tetsurou’s foot. Lieutenants weren’t supposed to have their familiars in the room but Ayeka had sensed Tetsurou’s twist of emotions and she had never been able to stay away from him when that happened.  She stayed hidden, only he was able to feel her sudden presence.

 

There was a long pause, it filled the room with an angry and dark energy as Daichi’s eyes lingered on Tetsurou before he looked away.  He stood up slowly, carefully and Tetsurou saw everyone at the table along with their first lieutenants stood behind watch him with barely contained energy.

 

“I will take my leave then.”  Daichi bowed politely, though those who had suddenly ambushed him didn’t deserve it.  Tetsurou watched Daichi, along with his _wakagashira_ walked out of the room without a word.

 

“Was that completely necessary Washijou?”  Nekomata Yasufumi, Nekoma’s _oyabun_ , asked once everyone had let out an exhale of relief when no further action had been taken.  Since Tetsurou had turned 18 two years prior he had been instructed to attend the meetings with Yasufumi instead of the rightful first lieutenant Naoi Manabu.  Tetsurou understood the reasoning, he would be taking over the coven after Yasufumi though Tetsurou hoped that was something that would happen far into the distant future.

 

Manabu hadn’t been upset at all, he had done was laugh and clapped Tetsurou on the shoulder, wishing him luck because the meetings were dull as hell and the first lieutenants had to stand for hours at a time.  They were not permitted to show any sign of discomfort and they had no say in any topics. For two years Tetsurou attended these meetings with Yasufumi and they were as boring as Manabu had promised. For two years Tetsurou had spent his time studying each and every one of the other covens bosses and their right hands.

 

Two years ago Sawamura Daichi had stood behind his own _oyabun_ , his father was a severe looking man and even though he was over 50 there was not a single laugh line on his face that indicated he had enjoyed any part of his 52 years of living.  Daichi had that same severe look to him as he stood against the wall, not moving a muscle but there had always been something about Daichi that drew people to him. That forced Tetsurou’s eyes to the shorter man again and again.

 

A month ago Karasuno’s boss had died.  Yasufumi had told Tetsurou it was from a battle with a long term illness.  Tetsurou had been partially impressed because the elder Sawamura had never shown even the smallest sign that he was ill.  He had always appeared like an impenetrable wall.

 

This would have been the first meeting with Daichi as the boss of the Karasuno coven.  Manabu had warned Tetsurou it would be extra dull with all the procedures and traditions the other _oyabun’s_ would insist on following.  Tetsurou had been ready to watch Daichi accept the role with the quiet dignity that he did everything else in life.  Sometimes it was hard to remember Daichi was the same age as Tetsurou.

 

Instead the covens had turned against Daichi and demanded his absence and withdrawal from these meetings, from being involved with the covens who ruled over Japan.  They had practically ordered Daichi to disband Karasuno.

 

“You agreed to it beforehand Nekomata.”  Washijou Tenji sniffed dismissively. “Karasuno has been a black mark against us for generations.”  Tetsurou watched as the _oyabun’s_ familiars shifted around them in agreement.  Tetsurou felt Ayeka press her big body against his leg in a show of comfort.

 

“Better to do it quickly before he entertained any ideas that he was apart of us.”  Irihata Nobuteru spoke up. “They simply cannot be trusted.” He lightly pet the head of his familiar next to him.

 

Familiars and witches were not just accepted into society but expected, especially if a person was apart of one of the High Covens who ruled Japan.  Familiars were called upon in childhood, the deeper the bond with them the more powerful witch and familiar grow. Familiars are not animals from this world, but creatures pulled from a world that ran alongside of the one people lived in.  Though most familiars took on animal shapes, Tetsurou’s own Ayeka was 30 kilograms that took on the shape of a black jaguar. He had summoned her when he was six and she had faithfully been by his side since then.

 

Familiars never wavered, they would never betray their witch.  They felt what their witch felt and those with a powerful bond with their familiars could even feel and see with their familiars senses.  They were a powersource, willingly giving everything they had and hardly asking for anything in return. Tetsurou had never even raised his voice to his Ayeka.

 

Karasuno had gotten into the dark habit of killing their familiars when they reached adulthood.  Familiars were a great source of power, that blind trust and loving bond meant the power a witch got from their death was insurmountable.  It made Karasuno extraordinarily powerful in a time when they had been in quick decline, but it also left the other covens wary and disgusted of them.

 

If a witch could kill their own familiar, the one creature that they have sworn loyalty and care to, then they are truly capable of anything and are not to be trusted.  It is what every witch believed, it was how Tetsurou had felt when he had been a young child and his own father had told him why Karasuno was regarded with such disdain.  That had been after he had met a boy with dark brown eyes and a wide smile that revealed two missing front teeth. Tetsurou had been quickly pulled away from the boy, who Tetsurou had just given permission to pet his Ayeka.

 

Tetsurou hadn’t seen Sawamura Daichi again until he started to attend these meetings.  He remembered being terrified that he had almost let Daichi touch his familiar when he planned to harm his own.  But studying Daichi for years left Tetsurou more confused than he had ever been.

 

“What’s done is done, we have more to discuss.”  The _oyabun_ from Inarizaki said, bringing everyone's attention to the task at hand.

 

When Tetsurou had met Daichi over a decade prior he had been followed by a black wolf pup who had nuzzled against Ayeka without fear or hesitation.  Two years ago when Tetsurou had started to attend the meetings he had noticed the absence of the black wolf who had licked Tetsurou from chin to forehead.  Tetsurou had been horrified by the implication but he could never seem to connect a man who would slaughter his own familiar for power to the boy who had so warmly and happily talked to him on a playground when they were children.

 

The meeting concluded as it always did and Tetsurou walked slightly behind and to the left of Yasufumi.  Ayeka stepped out from the shadows and was a long, dark shadow beside him. Yasufumi’s own sphinx cat familiar was curled up in his arms as usual, looking at Tetsurou with a clever and pleased look, as if it knew Tetsurou down to his very soul and found him deeply amusing.

 

Manabu was already standing outside the sleek black car, opening the door for both Yasufumi and Tetsurou who let his boss go in before he followed after.  Ayeka climbed into the spacious backseat and placed her big head on Tetsurou’s thigh, looking up at him with large green eyes.

 

“Speak your mind, I’m sure Naoi won’t mind.”  Yasufumi said with his usual humor, his wrinkled hand running over his familiars head.  Manabu’s own nebelung shaped familiar was curled up on the passenger seat, his long tail curling around him in contentment.  Manabu shot Tetsurou a sympathetic look in the rearview mirror but said nothing else.

 

It was common for each separate coven to gravitate in having  the same biological family that their familiars take the shape of.  Nekoma is known for having felidae-type, or felines with a few exceptions.  Inouka Sou’s familiar took on the form of a german shepherd.

 

“The covens have worked with Karasuno for generations, centuries even and now they find them too distasteful to work with?”  Tetsurou asked, causing Yasufumi to grin widely at his grandson.

 

“You find their practice of killing their familiars for power when they reach the age 18 acceptable?”  Yasufumi asked, his familiar hissing softly while Manabu’s own familiar flattened his ears against his skull.  Ayeka stayed still against Tetsurou, nudging his fingers for a scratch.

 

“I don’t.”  Tetsurou said honestly.  “But if the others have such a problem with it then why haven’t they put a stop to it?  They never attempted to kick Karasuno out before.”

 

“Because they were scared of them.”  Yasufumi looked out the window at the scenery passing by as Manabu expertly slid through the evening traffic.  “The first _oyabun_ who sacrificed his familiar did it under duress, his family was threatened, his wife and child lay dead before him.  He was dying. He managed to save his family, only a fraction of them and at a great price but he was viewed as weak from then on.  Attacks came regularly, those trying to take control over Karasuno’s territory, to dethrone the fallen kings.”

 

Tetsurou had extensive knowledge on each and every coven.  Nekoma excelled at gathering intel like that, even information other covens keep private Nekoma knew.  Like Yasufumi, Tetsurou had no wish to use that information against anyone but if his family was threatened he would cut deep and quick, making sure no one thought to betray them ever again.

 

So what Yasufumi was telling Tetsurou wasn’t new information.  The old _oyabun_ eventually passed on but with his heir dead Karasuno descended into chaos once more.  The past couple decades had not been kind to Karasuno.

 

“Why did you agree to it?”  Tetsurou finally voiced the question that had been running around in his head since everything took place.  Karasuno and Nekoma used to have a close connection, it had frayed and faded over the years but it had been there for generations.  Yasufumi himself had been close with the previous leader of Karasuno, Ukai Ikkei. Tetsurou had seen Manabu joke with the grandson, Ukai Keishin before.

 

“Because I believe it was a kindness.”  Yasufumi said, meeting Tetsurou’s eyes once more.  “It has been a decade and Karasuno has lost five leaders.  Ikkei was ill, his death could have been written off but his grandson was young, clever, and a battering ram when he wanted to be.  The older Sawamura was a force of nature, as were the other two leaders who fell before him.” Daichi was purposefully left out. To someone like Yasufumi Daichi and Tetsurou must seem like children, children he had seen born and had watched grow up.

 

Tetsurou took a deep, calming breath and bowed his head in acceptance.  There was nothing he could do about it after all.

  
  
  


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Several days later Tetsurou was awoken rather suddenly from a deep slumber.  It felt as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart, making him jerk awake and gasp for breath.  Only Ayeka pressing her warm head against his made him realize that he was not being attacked and there was nothing wrong with him.

 

Tetsurou stumbled out of bed, Ayeka following with her usual feline grace as he tossed on clothes before walking out of his room.  Tetsurou immediately knew it was bad when Yasufumi met him in the hall, his usual laughing grin nowhere in sight.

 

Manabu drove them silently, his familiar curled up on his lap since Kai Nobuyuki and Yaku Morisuke were in the car with them along with Yasufumi.  Tetsurou didn’t question why none of the older, more senior members of Nekoma weren’t present. It wasn’t his place to question the oyabun, especially with death curling through the air.  Tetsurou could feel it getting heavier as Manabu continued to drive.

 

Tetsurou stepped out of the car when Manabu stopped beyond the line the fire brigade had set up.  Even from quite a distance away Tetsurou could clearly see the absence of a large building, the space where a family had once resided.

 

The fire had already been put out, the building looked like a candle left to burn too long.  The bricks on the very bottom looked melted, not burned or turned to ash but actually melted.  Tetsurou felt the deep pull of death all around them and he knew many had lost their lives that night.  The most telling sign were the buildings around the now empty space were hardly singed.

 

This was Karasuno territory and that had been their base.  It wasn’t a well known fact, each family had several different properties and each were silent about where the bulk of the family lived.  Nekoma had the information and Tetsurou knew Daichi had moved his family into this building the day after he had been dismissed from the High Coven.  No one should have known they were here.

 

Ayeka pressed against his side silently while Tetsurou inwardly mourned the loss.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was 100% inspired by audriels freaking amazing story called Allies. I just love the twist of mafia but with powers and this story has been rattling around in my head since I first read audriels wonderful story (which you should totally go read but like grab some tissues because it's gonna hurt, but it a really good way only the best written stories do)
> 
> Also I apologize to all my other WIPs.


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